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(About Our Ads) "THE EX" (2007) (Zach Braff, Amanda Peet) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Moderate Minor *Heavy Minor None Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate Minor None None Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy None Moderate Moderate *Moderate QUICK TAKE: Comedy: Forced to move back to his wife's hometown after he's fired from his job in the city, a new father must contend with his new boss being his wife's one-time lover who's apparently trying to undermine him. PLOT: Tom Reilly (ZACH BRAFF) and Sofia Kowalski (AMANDA PEET) are a happily married couple who live in New York and are expecting their first baby. He's an up and coming chef, yet they're worried that her leaving a law firm to stay home and take care of their child might leave them financially strapped. Those worries are only worsened when Tom stands up to his mean and demeaning boss and thus is fired. With nowhere else to turn, they decide to move back to Ohio where they'll live near her parents, Bob (CHARLES GRODIN) and Amelia (MIA FARROW), and Tom will take a job working for Bob's advertising firm. As Sofia takes care of their new child at home and befriends young latchkey neighbor Wesley (LUCIEN MAISEL), Tom tries to adjust not only to their suburban, white bread surroundings, but also the creative yet strange mentality at work, where employees like Manny (FRED ARMISEN) sort of seem far out there. Seemingly more centered is Tom's immediate supervisor, Chip Sanders (JASON BATEMAN), a former cheerleading squad teammate of Sofia's who's now wheelchair bound. While Chip seems motivated to help his new subordinate succeed, Tom starts to feel otherwise, particularly when he learns that Chip once slept with Sofia long ago. Accordingly, and based on other things that occur, Tom starts to believe that Chip is trying to sabotage him at work and at home. From that point on, he tries to prove that's exactly what's occurring, as well as that Chip is faking his handicap, all of which makes him look bad in the eyes of others, including Sofia. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of someone in the cast or desire what looks like a goofy, Ben Stiller type movie, they just might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For sexual content, brief language and a drug reference. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: ZACH BRAFF plays a new father who's fired from his job for speaking his mind and thus must move his family back to his wife's hometown and take a job working for her father. He doesn't fit in well there, especially when he starts to believe that Chip is trying to sabotage him there and at home. He thus tries to prove that as well as his belief that Chip is faking his handicap. He uses some profanity. AMANDA PEET plays his wife, a new mother who quit her lawyer job to be a stay-at-home mom. Although upset with Tom over him losing his job, she moves back to her hometown where she starts to go a bit stir-crazy, befriends Wesley, and becomes increasingly concerned about Tom, his behavior, and his wild-sounding allegations. She uses profanity. JASON BATEMAN plays Tom's immediate supervisor at work, a wheelchair bound man who was once Sofia's cheerleading squad partner and one-time lover. Although he initially appears as if he's trying to help Tom, he's actually attempting to sabotage him at work and at home, all in hopes of getting back with Sofia. CHARLES GRODIN plays Tom's father-in-law who gets him a job working at his advertising firm, but becomes increasingly concerned about his change in behavior. He drinks and uses some strong profanity. MIA FARROW plays his wife, Sofia's mother. LUCIEN MAISEL plays a latchkey neighbor boy who starts hanging out with Sofia due to his father never being home and his mom living in another part of the country. His main talent is being able to stuff an entire hamburger into his mouth and then swallow it whole in one gulp. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this comedy that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 1 "f" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. All sorts of sexually related dialogue is present, as is a clip of a partially seen sex scene from the movie "Coming Home," while a married couple fools around a little. Some new mothers rub balm on their sore nipples (done under their tops), a bisexual man comes on to a married couple, and some gay porn shows two men caressing each other (nothing explicit). Comedy based violence includes a character suddenly being hit by a bus, as well as some fighting, other contact, and slapstick style material. Some behavior may be enticing for some kids to imitate (including a kid downing an entire hamburger in one swallow), while comedy-based bad attitudes are present, and a couple's marriage progressively becomes strained due to comedy-based occurrences. Some characters drink, there's a brief drug-related comment, and some scatological humor is present. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are varying amounts of handheld camerawork in the film (particularly during a wheelchair basketball game that also includes a seemingly stationary view of Tom as the background moves around behind him). ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Some miscellaneous people have beer in a restaurant. When Sofia screams for pain relief during labor after forgoing the epidural, Tom jokes that he can probably score her some weed. Bob has a drink. Tom has a beer. Bob raises a drink to make a toast, while Sofia holds a glass of wine. Chip, Sofia, and her family have wine. Bob has a drink in his lawn mower cup holder, and mentions having been off buying scotch. BLOOD/GORE As Tom playfully kisses on Sofia in bed (both are closed), she giggles and says he's going to make her pee (due to the tickling and her being pregnant). While in labor, Sofia says the nurse will soon be seeing her vagina as well as her poop, adding that most women do poop during childbirth. At various points in the film, Sofia makes various "poop" comments regarding her infant (talk of stinky poo, voicing the baby saying, "Dad, I pooped today, what did you do?" etc.). Chip explains his leaving a meeting due to having a bladder control problem. Not wanting to go back out with Sofia's family, Tom tells his infant son they'll stay inside "until you crap your pants again." We see a small cut or some grease on Tom's cheek. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE All of the following is played for comedy. Tom's restaurant boss is mean and demeaning, constantly using ethnic comments about one worker ("Go back to your ten-family shack and watch Telemundo"). As a result, Tom shoots ketchup or something similar all over his boss. That prompts the boss to slap Tom with a raw pork chop, and then do the same to another man who then chases the boss around the kitchen (with the boss also squirting Tom with other condiments -- this is all played for comedy). On TV, there are televised courtroom proceedings about a teen accused of killing his parents (just the proceedings are briefly seen). About his friends being back where he spends half the year with his mom, Wesley says "it's pretty gay." Chip invites Tom to play in a wheelchair basketball game with others, telling him it's okay that he has use of his legs (when that isn't okay with the other players, discovered later). Tom jokes with Sofia that Chip (who's in a wheelchair) can't go mountain biking with a client while he can (she calls him on that). Chip not only takes credit for Tom's business idea, but also then leaves him alone with clients, unaware of how to proceed with their presentation (all to make him look bad). Mad at another mom for making her feel inadequate in terms of mothering, Sofia lashes out, "Your son Petey is a dipsh*t." For most of the film, Chip slyly tries to undermine Tom both at work and at home (regarding his marriage to Sofia). Tom discovers that Chip recorded over Wesley's hamburger eating stunt (that's important for a client account). Needing Wesley to perform his hamburger eating stunt again, Tom tries to coerce the boy to do so, including taking his skateboard to make him agree. He later tries to bribe him with $1,000. Tom breaks into Chip's file cabinet at work. Thinking Chip is faking his handicap, Tom sarcastically calls him, "You cripple" and then proceeds to drag him out of his wheelchair and up some stairs. At the top, he lets him go, but Chip just violently tumbles down them (but is otherwise okay at the bottom). A person uses the comment "your gay voice." Chip tells Tom that he's just days from "mounting your slutty wife." We learn that a man has been faking his handicap for various reasons, including climbing the corporate ladder and sympathy sex from various women. Some kids try to run their remote control cars into Tom as he bikes by them. He manages to avoid those miniature cars, but then slams into a parked convertible. He flips up the hood and smashes into the windshield, shattering it. FRIGHTENING SCENES Sofia nearly runs into oncoming traffic while partially and briefly turning around to try to soothe her infant in the backseat. GUNS/WEAPONS None. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Oh f*ck" "I don't give a sh*t," "(No) Bullsh*t," "That's bullsh*t, dude," "Hotter than sh*t," "You're son Petey is a dipsh*t," "He's a d*ck," "Poon magnet," "Is there a midget living in the basement?" (meaning, "Do you have a small penis?"), "You banged my wife with that giant, uncircumcised anteater," "Doofus," "How the hell are you?" "Expensive as hell," "Dude," "Idiot," "Let's go, ladies" (said to men), "Man, you're an asshole," "Screw the research," "What the hell /was that/is wrong with you?" "Hell no," "Whore" (meant as a person who sells out), "Give 'em hell," "I feel like an idiot," "It's pretty gay," "Dad, I pooped today. What did you do?" "Sup?" (for "What's up?"), "He's the one who screwed up," "You and your little sissy friends," "You're my dawg," "Kicking ass," "I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch," "Tore me a new asshole," "You're an idiot," "Freak," "Don't be an idiot," "That little twerp," "Are you insane?" "You cripple," "Stay the hell away from my wife," "Douche," "Your gay voice," "You freak," "Screw it" and "Screw him." The various ways in which Tom and Chip try to undermine each other might be enticing for some kids to imitate. Sofia playfully blurts outs "baby big nose" when looking at Tom and saying the first baby name that comes to mind while looking at him. Tom's restaurant boss is mean and demeaning, constantly using ethnic comments about one worker ("Go back to your ten-family shack and watch Telemundo"). As a result, Tom shoots ketchup or something similar all over his boss. That prompts the boss to slap Tom with a raw pork chop, and then do the same to another man who then chases the boss around the kitchen (with the boss also squirting Tom with other condiments -- this is all played for comedy). A practice at Tom's new job is throwing around and catching an imaginary ball. Chip does an old cheerleading cheer and points out Tom when he cheers, "Let me tell you what you are, L-O-S-E-R." Wesley shows that he can stuff an entire hamburger in his mouth and then swallow it in one gulp (opening his mouth to show that it's not there anymore). We see that Manny wears a fake ponytail to fit in better at work. Wesley gives "the finger" to Tom after the latter tries to coerce the former into doing his hamburger-eating stunt again. Some kids try to run their remote control cars into Tom as he bikes by them. He manages to avoid those miniature cars, but then slams into a parked convertible. He flips up the hood and smashes into the windshield, shattering it. JUMP SCENES A bus suddenly hits a man (seen from the side and through a restaurant window, and played for comedy). MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) None. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 1 "f" word, 12 "s" words, 6 slang terms for sex ("banged," "get some" and "get with"), 6 using male genitals ("junk," "peep," "d*ck," "midget," "anteater" and "tool"), 1 for female ones ("poon"), 1 for breasts ("boobies"), 11 hells, 5 asses (2 used with "hole"), 2 S.O.B.s, 1 crap, 1 damn, 6 uses of "Oh my God" and 1 use each of "G-damn," "For God's sakes," "Jesus Christ," "Oh Jesus" and "Swear to God." SEX/NUDITY When Sofia mentions a boy's name for their upcoming baby, Tom doesn't like it, saying it would result in a fat kid who likes Internet porn. She then tells him to look at her and then state the first name that comes to mind, prompting him to say "boobies" (both are in bed, dressed). Tom happens upon a former acquaintance on the sidewalk who tells him that if he wants "the most ass," he should get his woman a beach house. That man then adds he can't keep his "off my junk." Tom later mentions that encounter to someone else, adding something about "get ass." While in labor, Sofia tells the female nurse about Tom's "peep" (penis) that has a cute little curve, but still obviously works. Tom tells her not to talk to the nurse about such things, but Sofia says the nurse will soon be seeing her vagina as well as her poop, adding that most women do poop during childbirth. The nurse then asks which way it curves, with Sofia saying one direction and Tom correcting that (referring to the direction one is looking at it). Tom approaches a hospital worker and tells him he was told to look for the guy who looks like he wants to "get some" (meaning sex). About her being a former cheerleader, Tom playfully asks Sofia when she's going to put on the outfit and do a routine for him (meaning sexually). She then sarcastically asks when he's going to score a touchdown. Both are in bed, clothed, and he starts to kiss the bare upper part of her chest, but she tells him to stop, adding that's where their infant son eats, and that what he's doing is weird. Chip has Sofia act out an old cheerleading routine with him, ending with him holding her up by one hand, with that hand under her clothed butt. About Chip, Sofia admits to Tom that (before she knew Tom), "We did sort of have sex once." Tom is shocked, saying he thought Chip was paralyzed from the waist down, but Sofia replies, "Not exactly." Sofia playfully tells Tom she has a special cheer for him, and they do some passionate kissing while standing (including with his hand on her exposed bare belly), but Wesley comes out and interrupts them. Tom reacts in amazement at seeing Chip nude in a wheelchair (our view of his crotch is blocked by the fact that he's seated, but he's otherwise obviously fully nude). About that view, Chip tells Tom it's okay to look at "him" (his penis), adding that "he" likes it. We also see several men in just towels in the locker room. A client says an ad for his pickle product looks phallic. A coworker shows a little cleavage and tells Tom that another woman there said Chip is great in the sack. She then starts to describe the sexual act, commenting on Chip balancing himself, resulting in the "angle of his..." but Tom stops her before she says anything more about that. A miscellaneous mother shows cleavage, and we then see the motion of her hand rubbing balm on her sore nipple (we never see the breast, just the rubbing motion). Later, Tom spots Sofia doing the same (under her top in bed), with Tom seeming a bit aroused by that, but she describes it's for cow udders and milking, etc. He then refers to scoring a touchdown (related to an above comment), but she replies that's not going to happen (meaning sex), telling him to use the balm (presumably a reference to masturbation). Manny tells Tom that he's training to be a marriage counselor, adding that it's a great way to meet women...and men. He then says he likes sex with women, but that men are better huggers. Later, we see Tom and Sofia attending his first session, where Manny says they'll start by holding each other's genitals (he reaches out toward their clothed crotches as they're seated, and they react adversely). He then half-jokingly says not hold, but poke. We next see him doing a session with them where they're to hit each other with a foam bat while expressing what upsets them. Tom starts by saying he's upset they haven't had sex in a long time, followed by her suggesting he try dropping an 8-pound baby out of his vagina. He then says he's upset about her banging Chip, and that term is used twice again. Tom returns to his desk to find gay porn on the screen (two shirtless men caressing and leaning in to kiss). Seeing Tom on a mountain bike, Chip pulls up in a sports car and sarcastically says he thought it (the car) was a "poon magnet." He then wonders if all is okay at home with Sofia, asking if there's a midget living in the basement (a small penis for Tom), adding that they sell pumps for that on the Internet. Tom breaks into Chip's file cabinet at work where he sees boxes of extra large condoms. We briefly see clips from the movie "Coming Home" where Jon Voight's character wheels himself out in a wheelchair with just a towel across his lap. We hear Jane Fonda's character saying she wants him and "What do I do?" We then see a brief shot of those two characters in close contact while lying side by side (but no explicit nudity). Tom asks Chip if he's over at her parent's place trying to "get with" Sofia. Chip tells Sofia that he still has her panties "from that time we..." but she stops him from continuing. Chip tells Tom that he's just days from "mounting your slutty wife." Tom then complains about Chip "banging" Sofia with his "giant, uncircumcised anteater," and Chip says that being in a wheelchair is good for "sympathy sex." Chip tells Sofia that the night they made love, he faked his orgasm. With Sofia saying she only has 15 minutes, Tom playfully says he knows how they can spend six of them. She playfully asks if he thinks he can last six minutes, with him saying even longer, and the two playfully but passionately start to kiss, undress a bit (no nudity), and he fondles her clothed butt. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES On TV, there are televised courtroom proceedings about a teen accused of killing his parents (just the proceedings are briefly seen). Wesley says his parents are divorced and he splits time between them, adding that his dad is always working. Tom's actions and behavior, stemming from Chip trying to undermine him at work and home, puts an ever-increasing strain on Tom and Sofia's marriage. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Dealing with people who try to undermine others. Dealing with a partner's ex-significant others. Having humor stem from those with disabilities or those who pretend to have that. Tom comments on all of the white people in their new suburban Ohio neighborhood (compared to NYC where they earlier lived). Wesley suddenly turns into a vegetarian. VIOLENCE All of the following is played for comedy. Tom's restaurant boss is mean and demeaning, constantly using ethnic comments about one worker ("Go back to your ten-family shack and watch Telemundo"). As a result, Tom shoots ketchup or something similar all over his boss. That prompts the boss to slap Tom with a raw pork chop, and then do the same to another man who then chases the boss around the kitchen (with the boss also squirting Tom with other condiments). After Tom grabs a hospital worker's keys (trying to get him to find some pain medication for Sofia during labor), the man chases and eventually tackles Tom. While playing in a wheelchair basketball game with Chip and others, one man purposefully smashes into Tom's hand to show him to watch out for that. Some balls also hit Tom, that one player purposefully smashes Tom's hand again, and Tom falls hard out of his chair to the floor while making a basket. Tom turns and accidentally hits his head on an open locker door. A man carrying a snowboard spins and accidentally hits Tom in the face with it (Tom has to duck several more times, as the man turns one way and then the other). Bob accidentally burns his hand on a hot desk lamp. In some marital therapy, Tom and Sofia take turns hitting the other with a foam bat to express what upsets them. Sofia then clocks Tom on the head with it, and when Manny their counselor says that's forbidden, Tom hits Manny on the head with the bat, followed by another blow to the body (no one is hurt during this). We see the charred remains of some office supplies and such on Bob's desk (from a hot lamp accidentally igniting papers on it -- we don't see the blaze). When Tom approaches Wesley to try to get him to do his hamburger-eating stunt again, a neighbor lady sprays something into Tom's eyes, causing him pain. Thinking Chip is faking his handicap, Tom sarcastically calls him, "You cripple" and then proceeds to drag him out of his wheelchair and up some stairs. At the top, he lets him go, but Chip just violently tumbles down them (but is otherwise okay at the bottom). Tom flips over a hedge after taking off on a mountain bike that hits something and sends him head over wheels. Chip hits Tom with his wheelchair and then flips him over to the ground. After Chip stands, Tom tackles him, but Chip then hits Tom in the crotch, then the face, and then knocks him to the ground. Some kids try to run their remote control cars into Tom as he bikes by them. He manages to avoid those miniature cars, but then slams into a parked convertible. He flips up the hood and smashes into the windshield, shattering it. A bus suddenly hits a man (seen from the side and through a restaurant window). A costume-wearing skateboarder accidentally crashes crotch-first into a hand railing. Reviewed April 23, 2007 / Posted May 11, 2007